I have a conservative website to recommend for those of the far right mindset -- the 912ers, the... well you know who you are. I hesitate to recommend any conservative site, but this one might do you some good; it shows there can be hope for some of those lost in the extremist hysteria.

This website, which used to get millions of hits daily, was once a main wingnut website during the days after 9-11. It was obsessed with Muslims and represented all the silly notions that the right loses marbles on -- the liberal media, terror cells crawling under the bed, etc etc. And it had a host of other websites that all supported one another in their self-fulfilling conspiracies.

Then something interesting happened. A split happened in the far-right internet groups when it was discovered that a lot of the European supporters of the anti-Muslim sentiment turned out to be real, actual fascists, in league with neo-Nazis. And to the credit of the owners of this particular website, they apparently realized what was obvious to sane observers all along: the extremist views they were spouting overlap with the sociopaths of the fringe right wing.

After that, the website slowly changed. They publicly split with a lot of their fellow extremists. Though still very rightist -- still suspicious of Obama, automatically supportive of Israel in every way and is very jingoistic toward places like Iran -- the site is now also challenging the excesses of the right wing, the lunacy that is controlling the conservative movement and Republican Party in the USA. They call out Limbaugh, the Tea Parties, FOX network, World Net Daily, Michele Malkin and Creationists. They have become, apparently, fairly responsible conservatives.

So now they serve as a good halfway house for those who want assistance in figuring out where the line between conservatism and lunacy is. If you think you might be losing it in right wing land -- if you ever find yourself reading Townhall.com, or thinking ACORN, health insurance and the census are all conspiracies to control your life, or you're seriously considering whether Obama is a Communist terrorist sympathizer born in Africa secretly sending union thugs to break up poor little Tea Parties -- this might be the site for you: www.littlegreenfootballs.com. Below is a recent example:

Quote:

Social Con Extremists Tightening Their Hold on the GOP

Politics | Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 9:31:15 am PDT

At the “How to Take Back America” conference last week, attended by Republican leaders including Mike Huckabee, Steve King, and Michele Bachmann, speakers railed against the “Marxist and/or Nazi dictatorship” of President Obama, and promoted a full raft of far right conspiracy theories. Following the Values Voters Summit the previous week (run by the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, a man with ties to white supremacists such as David Duke and the Council of Conservative Citizens), this conference was another step in the religious far right’s move to tighten its hold over the GOP by driving out all signs of moderation and inflaming the most extreme elements of the right wing base.

Perhaps the most bizarre speech was this one by pastor Rick Scarborough, a member of Mike Huckabee’s Faith and Values Committee during his presidential campaign.

Scarborough declares himself neither a Republican nor a Democrat, but a “Christocrat,” who believes the US Constitution was a “godly document,” and the Bible is intended to “direct the affairs of all of mankind.” Then he turns his increasingly hysterical attention toward Planned Parenthood, calling it a “demonic” organization that “slaughters innocent unborn children.” Homosexuals are “sodomites,” he shrieks, promoted by the “minions” of the Obama administration who are planning to put Christians in jail and ban the Bible.

This is the religious far right at its crazy, ranting worst — and as you watch, remember that Scarborough is actually an adviser to major GOP politicians.

Ophois

Wow.
All I can say is WOW.
Not because of Scarboroughs' lunatic rants about "sodomites" and whatnot. My "WOW" is a response to a political group actually changing their ways, once they realized they were, as you put it, 'overlapping' with the freaks who inhabit the dark corners of their own party. This is such a rare event in politics and religion. I am truly stunned.

The GOP ought to take notes here. This is why it's so easy to make fun of the Right, because they don't disassociate themselves, publicly, with these screwball groups. Instead, they rely on these people for votes, and unfortunately, they let these creeps rise through the ranks of their party as well. It's quite sad.

ocalhoun

handfleisch wrote:

They have become, apparently, fairly responsible conservatives.

Wow... I never thought handfleisch would ever admit the existence of such a thing...

Is this a step towards admitting that being critical of Obama's policies does not automatically make one a 'wingnut'?

I highly approve!

deanhills

handfleisch wrote:

Though still very rightist -- still suspicious of Obama, automatically supportive of Israel in every way and is very jingoistic toward places like Iran -- the site is now also challenging the excesses of the right wing, the lunacy that is controlling the conservative movement and Republican Party in the USA. They call out Limbaugh, the Tea Parties, FOX network, World Net Daily, Michele Malkin and Creationists. They have become, apparently, fairly responsible conservatives.

Your thinking makes sense. Since the Website does not agree with Obama, that means it is suspicious, ditto "support of Israel" and "jingoism" vs Iran. But since they are now getting to your way of thinking about the Tea Parties, etc. the Website is more acceptable to you. So basically what you are saying that since this Website leans more towards your way of thinking, that it could be acceptable as a rightwing Website? Not my kind of Website, but thanks for suggesting it however.

handfleisch

Ophois wrote:

Wow.
All I can say is WOW.
Not because of Scarboroughs' lunatic rants about "sodomites" and whatnot. My "WOW" is a response to a political group actually changing their ways, once they realized they were, as you put it, 'overlapping' with the freaks who inhabit the dark corners of their own party. This is such a rare event in politics and religion. I am truly stunned.

I never thought of it that way before, that it might be reason to celebrate, reason for a little bit of hope.

Ophois wrote:

The GOP ought to take notes here. This is why it's so easy to make fun of the Right, because they don't disassociate themselves, publicly, with these screwball groups. Instead, they rely on these people for votes, and unfortunately, they let these creeps rise through the ranks of their party as well. It's quite sad.

So far, the GOP hasn't take any notes, in fact they haven't even picked up a pen. The party is being led by these nutjobs. And there are millions of dollars of motivation to spew this stuff, since it all serves to attack the president's plans to reform health care, to make slight increases in taxes for the very wealthiest, and a host of other ways that big business and the megarich feel their huge profits threatened just a little. But we can only hope that this time, with things like the Iraq invasion, Katrina/FEMA disaster and the banking collapses still fresh in everyone's memory, it won't work.